Jesse Cool is a zealot. First it was at Late for the Train, then at Flea Street Cafe and now at jZcool—but the message has always been the same: Honest, pesticide-free, hormone-free, antibiotic-f

by Contributor

Jesse Cool is a zealot. First it was at Late for the Train, then at Flea Street Cafe and now at jZcool—but the message has always been the same: Honest, pesticide-free, hormone-free, antibiotic-free foods are next to godliness. At her new Menlo Park cafe, jZcool, all produce is organic, meats are natural, breads are certified organic, Clover and Horizon dairy products don't contain any unseemly ingredients, and organic wines, natural juices and range-fed chickens are all available.

Located at the tail end of Menlo Park's little business district on Santa Cruz Avenue, the cafe has a breezy, eat-in-or-take-out approach. You order at the counter, selecting from a long display case of salads, six to nine hot dishes and a short menu of sandwiches, burgers and hotdogs. You choose a drink, pay, and take a seat at one of the small tables or along the great stretch of communal seating that runs the length of the cafe.

The cozy seating arrangement makes for boisterous lunch conversation and good eavesdropping possibilities. As an eat-in cafe, jZcool has very little competition in this area of Menlo Park. As a take-out place, though, jZcool has some major players to beat nearby. Roast chicken, ribs, tomatoey meatballs, stuffing, macaroni and cheese—these are all dishes that upscale grocery stores are doing increasingly well. Draeger's, Andronico's and others have realized that people are desperate for wholesome, homey, hot food they can scoop up when they buy a gallon of milk. It's take-out food, but it's not "restaurant" food.

JZcool has a slight edge over the competition because of its organic focus, but a number of hot dishes could use retooling, and prices are higher than elsewhere ($4 per meatball?). The cafe's real strength is with cold salads. Beautiful balsamic- and orange-glazed beet slices sing with flavor; red-potato salad is lifted by capers, cross-sections of fennel and bits of dill; and a simple red-cabbage salad boasts a tang